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| Wednesday, May 3, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Improvement
trusts to be revived: CM 9 cr collected as power arrears Plea for CBI probe into FIR
against CM DSP summoned in Renuka murder case "Chautala kin on land-grab
spree" Census work to begin on May 15 |
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4 killed as train rams
into scooter House construction grant doubled Nominations for Rori byelection
open
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Improvement trusts to be revived: CM AMBALA, May 2 — The Haryana Government has decided to revive the improvement trusts in the state. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, while talking to media persons after flagging off a special goods train comprising 40 coaches carrying contribution of fodder and cattle feed by the people of Ambala from Ambala Cantonment railway station here today. He said that for the development of the urban areas the revival of Improvement Trusts was necessary. The state government would soon take a decision as to which cities would be initially covered for establishment of trusts. These trusts in the state were dissolved a few years ago. Mr Chautala said that his government has decided to provide assistance to the people of drought-hit states like Rajasthan and Gujarat. A committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, to conduct a survey of the drought-hit areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat which would submit its report within two to three days to the government. The people and cattle from the drought-affected states coming to Haryana would be provided all possible facilities. Haryana would send regular assistance to Rajasthan and Gujarat till the drought was over. He said 500 trucks of fodder and cattle feed would also be sent to the ‘gosala’ of Rajasthan. Replying to a question, he said that the government had received a report that certain parts of southern Haryana has also been partially affected by the drought and the government had immediately provided them with water for irrigation and other requirements and the situation was controlled. Meanwhile, the former
chairman of Ambala City Municipal Council, Mr Nirmal Vij,
who contested recent assembly election as an independent
candidate, resigned from the BJP and announced his
joining the INLD along with his supporters and five
municipal councillors. Mr Chautala welcomed him into the
party. |
9 cr collected as power
arrears CHANDIGARH, May 2 — The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) disconnected power supply to over 31,000 consumers in April, making it an average of over 1,000 disconnections a day, to collect a little over Rs 9 crore of the arrears in a month. A spokesman of the nigam said here today that in view of the "good response" evoked by the special campaign to recover the arrears, it had been decided to extend the last date of the surcharge waiving of the scheme to May 15. He said Hisar circle was ahead of all six operation circles under the nigam with the recovery of Rs 1.89 crore followed by Faridabad and Bhiwani circles in which the recovery had been to the tune of Rs 1.68 crore and Rs 1.59 crore, respectively. In Narnaul, Gurgaon and Sirsa circles, Rs 1.55 crore, Rs 1.53 crore and Rs 80 lakh were recovered, respectively. The spokesman said power supply of consumers who had cleared their arrears was being restored immediately. Under the scheme, he
said, 100 per cent surcharge was being waived of in those
cases where the consumers in rural arrears deposited
their capital amount of arrears in one go and 50 per cent
of the surcharge was being waived of if the consumers
paid their outstanding bills in three instalments. |
Plea for CBI probe into FIR
against CM CHANDIGARH, May 2 — Mr Partap Singh, younger brother of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, has moved the Supreme Court demanding a CBI inquiry into an FIR lodged by the former against the latter under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Stating this here at a press conference Mr Partap Singh said after Mr Chautala became the Chief Minister, he had urged the Punjab and Haryana High Court to order the CBI to investigate the charges because a fair investigation by the Haryana Police against its Chief Minister was not expected. However, the High Court dismissed his petition. Later, Mr Pratap Singh said the Special Judge accepted the cancellation report submitted in the court by the investigating officer. Alleging that the investigations were tardy, Mr Pratap Singh said a Himachal-cadre IAS officer of Commissioner rank had identified certain properties in that state as "benami" properties of the Chautala family. Even the Himachal Chief Minister had admitted this in the House. "How can an investigating officer of the Haryana Police sit in judgement over a Commissioner’s report" he said. Mr Pratap Singh also alleged that certain properties had been transferred in the names of Mr Chautala’s grandsons even during the pendency of the investigations. He said if he was indulging in mud-slinging, let the CBI "whitewash Mr Chautala’s image." The estranged brother of the Haryana Chief Minister also demanded the sack of Finance Minister Sampat Singh on the ground that he was facing a trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act in a Hisar court. The case, he said, was at the stage of furnishing evidence. If the BJP could ask for the dismissal of Mrs Rabri Devi as the Chief Minister of Bihar after the CBI had filed a challan against her, how it could allow a person facing the trial to continue in the ministry of Haryana. He claimed that before Prof Sampat Singh was to be sworn in as a minister, he had written to the Governor and the Prime Minister against his induction. Accusing the BJP of adopting double standards, Mr Pratap Singh said when he talked to Mr Govindacharya and Mr Narendra Modi, two senior party leaders, about the undesirability of Prof Sampat Singh’s induction in the ministry, the BJP leaders agreed with him but said they were helpless because Mr Chautala was their ally. Mr Pratap Singh also demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged harassment of a German woman by certain policemen in a Haryana Tourism complex in Sirsa district. He alleged the government was shielding the ASI involved in the incident because he happened to be a son of a senior Haryana police officer. He admitted that the ASI
was posted in the police lines following the intervention
of Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, the younger son of the Chief
Minister, and Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, son of the Punjab
Chief Minister. But Mr Chautala, who also holds the Home
portfolio and who belongs to Sirsa district, had not even
expressed regrets to the woman. |
DSP summoned in Renuka
murder case CHANDIGARH, May 2 — The mystery shrouding rape and murder of Yamunanagar student Renuka Sharma deepened with the petitioner stating that a body found nearly two months after the incident could be that of Sunil Gupta, the prime accused in the case. Alleging inaction by the authorities, the petitioner added that the case pertaining to the discovery of the body was filed as untraced. The body, the petitioner claimed, was found under the jurisdiction of Thanesar Sadar police station in Kurukshetra district. Taking up the petition, Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Deputy Superintendent of Police concerned to be present in the court on May 4 with complete record. Mr Justice Kumar also directed the Investigating Officer, Assistant Sub-Inspector Suraj Bhan, to furnish details to the DSP. Pronouncing the orders, Mr Justice Kumar observed: "Today, when counsel for the parties are present, a new twist has been given to create a doubt in the bona fides of the investigation conducted by the CBI. It has been stated that nearly two months after the occurrence, the body of a young man was found.... According to the petitioner, that body may be of Sunil Gupta... " Renuka Sharma, it may be
recalled, had left for school on August 26, 1995. Her
body was with "one or two bruises" was
subsequently found in a gunny bag. |
"Chautala kin on land-grab
spree" CHANDIGARH, May 2 — A former Haryana minister and RPI MLA from Palwal, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, today accused the Chief Minister’s family of launching a land-grab spree in Faridabad and Gurgaon districts. Talking to newsmen here Mr Dalal said in Ghata village of Gurgaon district about 900 acres which vested in the panchayat had been given to the proprietors under the orders of the Commissioner. Alleging that the Commissioner’s orders were for extraneous considerations, Mr Dalal said certain family members of Mr Om Prakash Chautala had already entered into agreements to sell the land with the proprietors. Similarly, he said, about seven acres of valuable land in Sector 13 of Gurgaon were under acquisition proceedings launched by HUDA. The khasra no. of the land, he said, was 1710. The proceedings had been stayed by a court. Again certain members of the Chautala family, the RPI MLA alleged, had entered into agreements to sell the land with the owners. The land, he said, would now be released by HUDA, which would cause a loss of about Rs 15 crore to the state exchequer. Mr Dalal also alleged that stone crushers and other agencies were being pressured to supply construction material free of cost to the family of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal, which was constructing a resort on a piece of land near Gurgaon. Criticising the encroachment drive launched by the administration in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts, Mr Dalal said the buildings of those were being spared who managed to strike a deal with influential political persons. He demanded that the
Chautala Government should waive the arrears of power
bills because the farmers had not paid their bills at the
asking of the INLD leadership. He also criticised the
Chautala Government for having imposed heavy taxes and
for raising bus fares. |
Census work to begin on May 15 CHANDIGARH, May 2 — The key questions during the Census-2000 operations starting in Haryana on May 15 will pertain to the actual availability of safe drinking water and electricity to the households. This was stated by Chief Secretary Ram S. Varma while presiding over the first state-level standing committee meeting on Census here today. Mr Varma added that during the first phase, the focus would be on "where people live and, how people live". During this phase, called houselisting operation, all inhabitable structures would be mapped on layout sketch covering every area of the State. Apart from availability of drinking water and electricity, data would be collected about material used for houses, number of rooms, availability of toilets, bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms for married couple, etc. These datas would be collected on a door-to- door basis in red forms. The Chief Secretary said the state government had made all arrangements for this massive operation for which more than 30,000 enumerators and 5,100 supervisors would be deployed. Mr Varma asked the Deputy Commissioners and other officials to take special interest in Census work. Mr Sunil Gulati, Director (Census), Union Ministry of Home Affairs, said the coming Census was unique in many ways. First, this would be a historic Census and the figures collected would be quoted for the next centuries to come. Secondly, for the first time information would be collected, compiled and presented on a panchayat-wise basis. Third, attention would also be paid to slums and each slum pocket having population of 300 or more would be taken into account. Finally, the integrated character recognition (ICR) Technology would be used for the first time for tabulation work. Mr A N Mathur, Haryana
Finance Secretary, who was present at the meeting,
released a sum of Rs 2.52 crore given by the Central
Government for this work. The state government would
provide additional funds and facilities for the smooth
conduct of the Census. |
4 killed as train rams
into scooter HISAR, May 2 — Four persons, including a woman and her two children, were killed in a collision involving their scooter and a passenger train at unmanned level crossing near Neoli village, about 20 km from here, on the Hisar-Bathinda railway track today, the railway sources said. According to the reports, the scooter was dragged along the train for several metres. The dead including a man, his sister and her two children. All bodies were brought
here for post-mortems. |
House construction grant
doubled CHANDIGARH, May 2 — The Haryana Government today doubled the house construction grant to be given to members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and vimukt jatis. A sum of Rs 2 crore has been earmarked for this purpose during the current financial year. Mr Risal Singh, Minister
of State for Social Welfare and Welfare of Scheduled
Castes and Backward Classes, said about 2,000 persons
belonging to the Scheduled Castes vimukt jatis would
benefit under this scheme this year. |
Nominations for Rori byelection open CHANDIGARH, May 2 — The Election Commission today issued a notification calling for nominations for the Rori Assembly byelection in Haryana. No nomination was filed for the May 26 byelection on the opening day today. The last date for filing the nominations will be May 9. Scrutiny will be held next day. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is May 12. The byelection has been
caused due to the resignation of Chief Minister Om
Prakash Chautala, who was also elected from the Narwana
constituency. |
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